Show-case.



No. 873,403. PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

n. M. BALDWIN.

SHOW CASE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5. 1 907.

nu Ronni llrlu c9 I'AIIUIIHNI, 'n. c.

DAVID M. BALDWIN, OF JONESBORO, ARKANSAS.

SHOW-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

I Application filed March 5. 1907. Serial No. 360.972.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID M. BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jonesboro, in the county of Craighead and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Show Cases, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention contemplates cer tain new and useful improvements in the construction of show cases whereby the front is hinged to the body portion so as to swing outwardly when desired, such construction having the advantage of enabling ready access to be had to the interior of the case for the purpose of cleaning the same or driving out flies or other obnoxious insects.

Broadly speaking the invention consists of a show case having a swinging front, and novel means carried by the base of the show case for controlling the movements of the swinging ont.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction and the means for effecting the result, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end view of a show case constructed in accordance with the present invention, the front being shown as open in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the show case. Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of the operating mechanism controlling the swin ing of the front of the case. Fig. 4 is a detai view of the operating lever.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followin description and indicated in all the views 0 the drawings by the same reference characters.

The numeral 1 designates the body portion of a show case, the front 2 of which is hinged to the base 3 so as to swing outwardly and enable ready access to be had .to the interior of the case.

Secured to the inner face of the front 2 at opposite ends thereof are the downwardly extending arms 1 having their lower extremities pivotally connected to the link members 5. A series of bearings 6 are secured to the bottom of the base 3 toward the rear edge thereof and a rock shaft 7 is journaled in the said bearings. Downwardly extending crankarms 8 are carried by the rock shaft 7 torock shaft 7 is flattened and terminates ward the opposite ends thereof, the extremities of the crank arms being pivotally connected to the rear ends of the respective link members 5. It will thus be apparent that by imparting a suitable rotary movement to the rock shaft 7 the same operates through the crank arms 8 and link members 5 to cause a swinging movement of the front 2.

Projecting downwardly from the rock shaft 7 at an intermediate point is a crank arm 9 the lower end of which engages the piston rod of an air buffer 10 which operates to prevent any slamming of the front 2 of the case which might result in breaking the glass.

An operating lever is rigidly mounted at a an intermediate point upon one end-of the rock shaft 7 and is provided with a latch 12 designed to engage with a segmental rack 13 to lock the operating lever and the front of the show case in any desired osition. In the specific construction of t e operating lever it will be observed that the same comprises an inner section or body portion 11 the upper portion of which is enlarged and while the lower has a circular cross section,

ortion which is rigidly connected to the at its upper end in a shoulder 14 which is mortised and loosely receives the upper end of the latch 12, the said latch being also guided in its movements by a keeper 16projecting laterally from the flattened portion of the body portion 11. of the lever. Slidably mounted upon the enlarged upper portion of the section 11 of the operating lever is the outer section which is in the nature of a sleeve 17 and diagonally disposed s'lot 18 which receives a lug 19 projecting from the lever 11. Owing to this construction it will be apparent that by imparting a rotary movement to the sleeve 17 the same will be caused to move longitudinally upon the lever 11.

The lower end of the sleeve 17 rests normally upon a shoulder 20 upon the latch 12, the weight of the sleeve serving to compress a spring 21 interposed between the keeper 16 and shoulder 20 and hold the latch in en gagement with the rack 13. However when the sleeve 17 is rotated to slide the same up wardly upon the handle 11 the spring 21 o crates to push the latch 12 upwardly and t ow the same out of engagement with the which is provided with a rack 13, in which position vthe operating lever can be manipulated to open or close the front of the show case as may be desired. In the preferred construction the operating lever 11 is located on the exterior of the case at one end thereof but is so mounted as to fall within the limits of the base and over hanging ledge at the top so that two cases can be placed end to end in the usual man'- ner.

Under ordinary circumstances it is de sirable that the front 2 maintain a closed position since the articles within the show case are ordinarily removed from the rear thereof, and for this reason spring hinges 15 are preferably employed for connecting the front 2 to the base 3. With this construction it will be readily apparent that no difficulty will be met in thoroughly cleaning all portions of the interior of the case since access can be had thereto both from the front and rear, and that owing to this latter feature flies or other insects can be easily driven therefrom.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination of a show case having a swinging front, a rock shaft journaled upon the base of the show case for controlling the swinging front, a crank arm projecting from the rock shaft, connecting means between the crank arm and the swinging front, a second crank arm carried by the rock shaft, a buffer cooperating with the second crank arm to prevent sudden movement of the swinging front, and means for operating the rock shaft;

2. The combination of a show case having a swinging front, a downwardly extending arm carried by the swinging front, a rock shaft journaled upon the base of the show case, a crank arm projecting from the rock shaft, a link connecting the crank arm of the rock shaft and the arm carried by the swinging front, a second arm projecting from the rock shaft, a buffer cooperating with the second arm to prevent sudden closure of the swinging front, and means for operating the rock shaft to control the movements of the swinging front.

3. The combination of a show case having a swinging front, a rock shaft carried by the show case, means whereby the swinging front can be controlled through the medium of the rock shaft, an operating lever mounted upon the rock shaft, a latch mounted upon the operating lever, a rack, and a sleeve slidable upon the operating lever and controlling the latch.

4. The combination of a show case having a swinging front, a rock shaft carried by the show case, means whereby the swinging front can be controlled through the medium of the rock shaft, an operating lever mounted upon the rock shaft, a slidably mounted latch carried by the lever, a rack normally in en agement with the latch, and a sleeve slidably mounted upon the operating handle and provided with an inclined slot receiving a lug projecting from the said handle whereby a rotary movement of the sleeve imparts a longitudinal movement to the same, the said sleeve normally holding the latch in engagement with the rack.

5. The combination of a show case having a swinging front, a downwardly extending arm carried by the swinging front, a rock shaft journaled upon the base of the show case, a crank arm projecting from the rock shaft, a link connecting the crank arm of the rock shaft and the arm carried by the swinging front, an operating lever mounted upon the rock shaft, a latch mounted upon the op erating lever, a rack carried by the show case and designed to engage the latch, and a sleeve slidable upon the operating lever and controlling the latch.

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID M. BALDWIN. n a

Witnesses:

G. G. BnooKs, J. R. GREGSON. 

